Purchased a Santa Cruze Stigmata online from Mikes Bikes. The purchase went smoothly, the bike was shipped 3 days after I ordered it. The primary reason for the delay is they unpack and assemble the bike, adjust everything, and then repack it into their own shipping box. The end customer (aka Me) then has a much simpler task to do final assembly. Was a mechanic at a shop in a former life and I can assure you the folks at Mike's made my task much simpler.
For the most part everything worked well... - The stem needed replacement with to get an ideal fit. This was expected. - The gorgeous Easton carbon fiber seatpost had zero setback so that had to be replaced to get the right fit. Fortunately I had a CF seatpost on another bike that I could swap.
The bike has the standard Shimano GRX 2x11 build, the gravel equivalent of Ultegra. Wheels are decent DT Swiss XR 361 alloy rims with DT Swiss 350 hubs, and 38mm gravel tires setup tubeless by the shop and yes they even used Stan's sealant per my request. Nice!
In addition, I purchased a set of Specialized Roval Terra CL carbon gravel wheels and mounted a set of 32mm Continental 5000 TL tubeless tires. The Roval CL's weigh a scant 1400 g, and that includes the rim tape and valves. When mounted on the wide-ish CL's, the 32mm 5000's measure 34mm which makes them perfect for mild gravel. Having used this setup for several hundred miles of "spirited" group rides, I can say this wheel set is very fast.
In fact, when setup with the Roval CL's and Conti 5000's the Stigmata weighs about 1.5 pounds more than my S-Works Tarmac.
As gravel bikes go, the Stigmata has a high bottom bracket which is perfect if one wants to use the bike with skinny road tires, which is exactly what I wanted to do by running the CL's & 5000's.
On gravel the Stigmata is definitely stiffer than the Raleigh Roker it's replacing. The two most noticeable places are the fork does not flex as much so there is more vibration transmitted to the bars. The second place I feel a difference is in the bottom bracket where the Roker will flex a bit more when standing/sprinting. Overall the Roker is a bit more comfy and the Stigmata a bit more racy.
The Stigmata's geometry is a bit quicker than the Roker. Less wheel flop at low speeds with the Stigmata, but the Roker is more stable at higher speed in loose gravel. The 60 cm Stigmata has less clearance for my size 13 shoes than the Roker, still the Stigmata has ample room for my size 13 shoes with the 38 mm tires and should be fine even if I go to 45 mm tires.
As for the Shimano drivetrain, those who prefer the solid "ca-thunk" of SRAM and Campagnolo shifting are going to really really hate the GRX shifting which is smooth as silk. I'm drivetrain agnostic so all I care about is how well it shifts and the GRX shifts great.
One last upgrade/change to mention - I swapped out the stock bars with 46 cm Whiskey No. 9 12F carbon bars. I'm just not a fan of bars with lots of flare and the 12F has 12 degrees of flare making it close to a road bar.
Since I do most of my own wrenching, two features I appreciate: 1. T47 threaded bottom bracket. No creaking and will be easy to service. 2. The cables are not routed through the head tube to make it more aero.
A few nit-picky misses: 1. No in-line cable adjusters for either derailleur. WTF??? 2. The 38 mm tires seem a bit narrow these days (IMO anyway) 3. No top tube attachment points for bags. 4. Would be great if one could specify stem and seatpost. But in these days of global shortages I'm thankful to have the bike.
NoCoGreg wrote:Purchased a Santa Cruze Stigmata online from Mikes Bikes. The purchase went smoothly, the bike was shipped 3 days after I ordered it. The primary reason for the delay is they unpack and assemble the bike, adjust everything, and then repack it into their own shipping box. The end customer (aka Me) then has a much simpler task to do final assembly. Was a mechanic at a shop in a former life and I can assure you the folks at Mike's made my task much simpler.
For the most part everything worked well... - The stem needed replacement with to get an ideal fit. This was expected. - The gorgeous Easton carbon fiber seatpost had zero setback so that had to be replaced to get the right fit. Fortunately I had a CF seatpost on another bike that I could swap.
The bike has the standard Shimano GRX 2x11 build, the gravel equivalent of Ultegra. Wheels are decent DT Swiss XR 361 alloy rims with DT Swiss 350 hubs, and 38mm gravel tires setup tubeless by the shop and yes they even used Stan's sealant per my request. Nice!
In addition, I purchased a set of Specialized Roval Terra CL carbon gravel wheels and mounted a set of 32mm Continental 5000 TL tubeless tires. The Roval CL's weigh a scant 1400 g, and that includes the rim tape and valves. When mounted on the wide-ish CL's, the 32mm 5000's measure 34mm which makes them perfect for mild gravel. Having used this setup for several hundred miles of "spirited" group rides, I can say this wheel set is very fast.
In fact, when setup with the Roval CL's and Conti 5000's the Stigmata weighs about 1.5 pounds more than my S-Works Tarmac.
As gravel bikes go, the Stigmata has a high bottom bracket which is perfect if one wants to use the bike with skinny road tires, which is exactly what I wanted to do by running the CL's & 5000's.
On gravel the Stigmata is definitely stiffer than the Raleigh Roker it's replacing. The two most noticeable places are the fork does not flex as much so there is more vibration transmitted to the bars. The second place I feel a difference is in the bottom bracket where the Roker will flex a bit more when standing/sprinting. Overall the Roker is a bit more comfy and the Stigmata a bit more racy.
The Stigmata's geometry is a bit quicker than the Roker. Less wheel flop at low speeds with the Stigmata, but the Roker is more stable at higher speed in loose gravel. The 60 cm Stigmata has less clearance for my size 13 shoes than the Roker, still the Stigmata has ample room for my size 13 shoes with the 38 mm tires and should be fine even if I go to 45 mm tires.
As for the Shimano drivetrain, those who prefer the solid "ca-thunk" of SRAM and Campagnolo shifting are going to really really hate the GRX shifting which is smooth as silk. I'm drivetrain agnostic so all I care about is how well it shifts and the GRX shifts great.
One last upgrade/change to mention - I swapped out the stock bars with 46 cm Whiskey No. 9 12F carbon bars. I'm just not a fan of bars with lots of flare and the 12F has 12 degrees of flare making it close to a road bar.
Since I do most of my own wrenching, two features I appreciate: 1. T47 threaded bottom bracket. No creaking and will be easy to service. 2. The cables are not routed through the head tube to make it more aero.
A few nit-picky misses: 1. No in-line cable adjusters for either derailleur. WTF??? 2. The 38 mm tires seem a bit narrow these days (IMO anyway) 3. No top tube attachment points for bags. 4. Would be great if one could specify stem and seatpost. But in these days of global shortages I'm thankful to have the bike.
This is one of the best write-ups after having bought a new bike that I’ve come across. Well done!
Cool bike. The Stigmata was in my top three choices last year. No top tube mounts is an odd miss. The zero offset post on a 73.5 degree seat tube angle is just as weird as the 25 degree offset post on my Lauf with a 72 degree seat angle. We should swap posts!
Every Stigmata I have seen looks fast standing still. They hold a 650 x 2.1 tire without looking crazy either. It's gotta be so light with those Terra wheels too. If the Stigmata had been a few dollars cheaper and had the AXS XPLR instead of the AXS Eagle rear, it would have been a different decision.
I have my Stiggy since end of 2019 and I agree, the missing top tube mount is surprisingly annoying. I sit perfect using the original easton seapost. The bike still screams ‚kick me‘ every time I ride it…
